Traveling by train is usually not easy in China. It can be hard to get a ticket. When you’re traveling to the railway station, you look at your watch, for you are afraid you will miss your train.
But there is good news for people traveling between Beijing and Shanghai. Construction (建设) on the express railway (高速铁路) between the two cities started just before the Spring Festival of 2008. When it is finished by 2013, taking a train will be as easy as taking a bus.
“There will be trains every several minutes. Buying a ticket, getting through the checkpoint (检查站) and taking your seat, will take just 10 minutes,” said an engineer.
There may be high-speed trains running at 350 kilometers an hour. The travel time between the two cities will decrease from 10 to about 5 hours. The trains will carry twice the present number of passengers.
The new line will be 1,318 kilometers long and go across specially built bridges. It will run along side the present line. There will be 21 stations in Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.
“The cost of traveling by the express railway may be around 800 yuan. That will be more expensive than an ordinary train, but cheaper than by air.” Said Zhang Xiaoling, a Jiangsu government official.
According to Zhang, the higher price is caused by the large cost of the railway project. At about 200 billion yuan, the project may be even more expensive than the Three Gorges Project (三峡工程).
【小题1】The express railway between Beijing and Shanghai will be finished _______.

It is easy for us to tell who our family members are, but do plants recognize(识别) their own family? Some do, scientists say, according to a report by Science News in early 2010.

Guillermo P. Murphy and Susan Dudley are two plant scientists from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. They did a few experiments with Jewelweeds, a kind of flower that grows in wet, shady spots. They found that the flowers seem to know their own flower family. In their experiments, Murphy and Dudley planted jewelweeds in pots with either siblings or strangers.

When jewelweeds were planted in pots with strangers, the plants started to grow more leaves than if they had been planted alone. This response(反应)suggests that plants are competing with strangers for sunlight, since a plant with more leaves can receive more light and make more food. Jewelweeds usually grow in the shade, where sunlight is not enough.

When jewelweed seedlings(幼苗)were planted with siblings, they grew a few more branches than they usually would if they were alone – but they did not start growing lots of extra leaves. This behavior suggests the plants are more likely to share resources, rather than compete.

According to the Science News report, Jewelweeds are not the first plants that plant scientists have studied for family recognition. In 2007, Dudley and her team studied the Great Lakes sea rocket, a plant that grows on the beach – where it may be hard to get fresh water. In that experiment, the scientists found that when sea rockets were planted with siblings, they tolerated each other. But when they were planted with strangers, the sea rockets reacted by working extra hard to grow lots of roots.

Dudley says this just because sea rockets, on the beach, get plenty of sun but struggle for water – so when they’re threatened, they compete for water. Jewelweeds have plenty of water but have to compete for sunshine, so they grow more leaves.

1. What does the underlined word siblings mean?

A．Flowers come from foreign countries.

B．Plants growing in different environments.

C．Flowers planted with lots of strangers.

D．Plants that are the same kind.

2. In the text, the writer mentioned the experiments of Jewelweeds to         .

A．make a comparison                      B．introduce a topic

C．describe a pretty flower                  D．build a new theory

3. According to the passage, flowers planted alone will         .

A．grow more leaves than those planted in groups

B．become taller than those with more branches

C．grow fewer leaves than those planted with strangers

D．become ill easily because they can’t get enough shade

4. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．New Discoveries about Plants

B．How Plants Compete with Each Other

C．Family Recognition among Plants

D．Jewelweeds and the Great Lakes Sea Rockets

In Germany there are different kinds of high schools.Some prepare students for workers, others prepare them for college. All schools are great places for making friends and learning German.
Short days
Most high schools in Germany begin at about 8:00 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. This means your morning will be busy with classes. You will have time to do homework and take part in private(私人的) clubs after school.
Formal setting
In Germany, teachers and students’ relationship is more formal than you might be used to. Teachers are respected and students must use the formal “Sie(德语：您)” when talking to teachers.
Getting to school
Most students take public transport to school or ride a bicycle. Some ares have school buses. It is not common for parents to drive students to school.
Private clubs
In many countries, schools offer official sports and after-school activities. This is less common in Germany. After-school activities are usually organized through private clubs. There are clubs for things like soccer, dance, chair, theatre and almost everything else. Once you are in Germany, ask around at school and talk to other students to find out what private clubs are in your area and meet your interests.
Different states, different schools
Each of Germany’s 16 states has its own slightly different school systems. The school system in Brandenburg will be a little different from the system in Bavaria for example. Where you live, your knowledge level and your age will decide what school you can attend.
【小题1】For high school students in Germany, Which is not the common transport to school?

“What is success”? Mr. Black asked his 6th grade business class. It was his opening conversation for the first class of the term.
“Success is riding in a sweet car, watching an 80-inch((英寸) TV, and living in a place with at least twelve rooms.” One student answered, earning（博得）laughs from all the students.
Mr. Black smiled, but shook his head. “Tom, that is excess(过量). That is not success.”
“How about being able to provide for your family?” A blonde girl named Sandy in the front suggested as an answer.
“Now we’re getting closer,” Mr. Black smiled, “but try thinking about what you need and what you want.”
“Getting everything you want.” Tom shouted out an answer again, trying for more laughs.
Mr. Black sighed（叹气）.“ I believe we’ve already talked about excess versus(与…比较) success.”
“Getting everything you need, but some of what you want?” James, sitting in the back wondered aloud.
“Quite right!” Mr. Black clapped. “Success is getting everything you need and some of what you want. The more you get that you want, the more successful you are. You do reach a point where you are living in excess, though.”
“What does this have to do with business?” Tom asked. It seemed if it wasn’t funny, he wasn’t happy.
“Well, Tom, think of it this way: the point of business is to make a living to support your family. Once you have properly seen to (确保) their needs, you can then seen to getting the extras that you want.”
“What if I don’t have a family?” he continued to be difficult.
“Then you have to provide for yourself, a family of one.”
“He has goldfish to think about!” Peter, Tom’s friend, shouted out.
“Then he needs to provide for a family of one with a fishbowl.” Mr. Black corrected himself.
Tom nodded, satisfied with that answer.
“So in the next nine weeks, we’re going to study basic business situations, like having a checking account and understanding credit cards（信用卡）.”
Tom rubbed his hands together excitedly. “When do we get to start spending?”
“You already are, Tom. You’re spending time with us!” Mr. Black laughed. “Now, let’s see what you guys know about credit cards…”
【小题1】What was Mr. Black?

Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched? You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!

Parapsychologists (灵学家) say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them. To research whether such a“sixth sense”really exists, Robert Baker, a psychologist (心理学家) at the University of Kentucky, did two experiments.

In the first one, Baker sat behind unknowing people in public places and stared(盯着）at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes. The subjects（受试者）were eating, drinking, reading, studying, watching TV, or working at a computer. Baker made sure that the people could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods. Later, when he questioned the subjects, almost all of them said they had no sense that someone was staring at them.

For the second experiment, Baker told the subjects that they would be stared at from time to time from behind in a laboratory setting. The people had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren’t. Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at and when they weren’t.

Baker concludes that people do not have the ability to sense when they’re being stared at. If people doubt the outcome of his two experiments, said Baker,“I suggest they repeat the experiments and see for themselves.”

1.The aim of the two experiments is to ________.

A．explain when people can have a sixth sense

B．study how people act while being watched in the lab

C．study whether humans can sense when they are stared at

D．prove why humans have a sixth sense

2.The underlined word “outcome” in the last paragraph most probably means ________.

A．value             B．result             C．performance       D．connection

3.In the second experiment, the subjects _________.

A．could tell when they were stared at

B．could tell where they weren’t stared at

C．couldn’t tell who they were stared at or who they stared at

D．couldn’t tell when they were stared at or when they weren’t

4.What can be learned from the passage?

A．People are born with a sixth sense.

B．The experiments support parapsychologists’ idea.

C．The subjects do not have a sixth sense in the experiments.

D．People have a sixth sense in all places.